This way after the first set was dirtied I could just pull them off the bed and have a fresh bed underneath. One word of advice though, the plastic shower curtains shift on the bed so you may want to pin them to sheet below it around the edges.

Great idea about using shower curtains as liners on the bed, I would just need to figure out how to keep them from shifting. We just bought a new temperpedic mattress today so I really don't want to ruin it! Any other ideas for things that will not shift as much?

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A crunchy wife to B and momma of identical twin girls G & E, our rainbow
baby C born at home April 2013 and R forever in my heart.

I wasn't at home but I wanted to share! I had a winter baby too so I got these for wearing after birth and nursing. The leopard on is really loud in my opinion but it was SO comfortable and worth it. Most so than the boyfriend one and warmer.

Not only was it helpful nursing in the winter but when my son ended up co-sleeping with us, it would keep my arms and upper body nice and warm while we had the blankets lower on the bed to keep away from him.

The other think I remember being a god sent after birth was a cloth bag of rice. It was heated in the microwave. I guess it's often used for woman with lower back pain, but I used it at my feet. It took so long to get them warm -- they were cold for hours after birth. It might keep the heat longer than the towels.

This does a couple things - keeps the nasty-feeling vinyl away from you (cotton blanket barrier hides a lot), and a simple cotton sheet really doesn't absorb much, so the cotton blanket helps to absorb any fluids.

Also, you can get an adapter for your shower filter so that you can fill the tub with filtered water instead of unfiltered sink water.

We did the tarp on the ground as well. We made a path from the tub to our bed which was nice bc I got in and out of the tub and in and out of the bed. We also did the cheap liners on the bed. I never noticed noticed them. We also had several of the blue gauze type things in our birth kit and they had several under me. If those aren't in ur birth kit, get some. I used them for days under me in bed. My birth kit also had loose tea to make frozen pads for my bottom, which were AMAZING!! We also had a crockpot with water and rags for my mw. She used themfor hot compresses which was nice. The only other thing, I don't know how tall u are but I had a hard time.getting in and out of the tub and in and out of bed so I used a little foot stool. After the birth, I made DH, FIL, and my dad put the mattress on the ground so I didn't have to worry about it. Thats all I can think of.

My midwife says depends are a must in case your water breaks.you don't want to be walking around with a towel between your legs and when the depends gets wet just throw them away and get a clean dry pair.plus, if you don't end up needing them you can always return them to the store for your money back.

My midwife says depends are a must in case your water breaks.you don't want to be walking around with a towel between your legs and when the depends gets wet just throw them away and get a clean dry pair.plus, if you don't end up needing them you can always return them to the store for your money back.

Unless your water is broke for 3 days you'd go broke. Pads work great.

My midwife says depends are a must in case your water breaks.you don't want to be walking around with a towel between your legs and when the depends gets wet just throw them away and get a clean dry pair.plus, if you don't end up needing them you can always return them to the store for your money back.

I would volunteer for a hospital birth before I wore diapers. There isn't that much fluid, a pad or 3 works great. Sitting on the toilet works even better, and once baby's head is engaged there is no more gush. I am not sure which would be humiliating though - wearing them or returning them to the store

My midwife says depends are a must in case your water breaks.you don't want to be walking around with a towel between your legs and when the depends gets wet just throw them away and get a clean dry pair.plus, if you don't end up needing them you can always return them to the store for your money back.

A pad will do the same thing .

We did the shower curtain (Ikea)/sheets/shower curtain/sheets also. We hated sleeping on it, so we took it off until I was actually in labor. Ive never had my water break until 10cm, though, so I wasnt worried about it breaking in my sleep and ruining my mattress or anything.

I just wore the clothes I had on that day, nothing special. With both of my homebirths, I was starting to push when the MW suggested I take off some clothes, lol.

Our midwife asked us to have a rimmed-baking sheet for her to get her stuff organized on, so she could move it room to room.

Remember to have juices for energy - with my last birth (30 hours) they gave me a concoction of orange juice & maple syrup at the end - tasted like death, but it worked.